~ Some perspective ~

It's that time a year again when all the hustle and bustle of Christmas is all about checking off our Christmas gift buying list.
The onslaught of flyers, sales and advertisements urging us to buy, buy, buy!!
Seeing everything out thats new, chic and hip to have can make your head spin.

A couple of weeks ago I saw an advertisement for Oprahs "favorite things" episode. I'm pretty sure I saw this show last year chocked full of all the amazing new "must haves," enough bling and pizazz to make even the cheapest person find herself excited, I'm sure.
I find some of Oprahs episodes worth watching, but this was one that I was determined to skip. For many reasons really, one being my own conviction to find contentment in all circumstances, another being rebellion against the worlds desire to tempt us to always be in the pursuit of MORE stuff.

I found it ironic that the day that the show was scheduled to air was the same day that we were all informed of the tragic events surrounding the cyclone that hit off the coast of the Indian ocean.
That same day there were 3000 people who had lost their lives and many more thousands who had lost their livelihood and everything that they had owned. 300 000 homes were destroyed, 600 000 homes damaged. Thousands of acreage of crops were completely wiped out. This was the sole income of so many families. A man was interviewed by some reporter on site and he said he had nothing left, not even a blanket to cover his relatives who were now dead.

I heard this report during my morning coffee and shared it with my children during our morning Bible time. The kids and I cried and prayed for these people, these poor distraught families that were cold, hungry, desperate and afraid for their futures.
We sat and looked around at our cozy, warm house, the breakfast dishes left from a yummy, hot meal piled on the counter, and lastly we looked at each other. We were all together healthy and breathing. Our hearts ached, yet we were grateful for our blessings.
So when the clock hit 4:00 and I knew Oprah would be unveiling enough loot to make people salivate and drool for more, I opted out.

I had some perspective....